Velvety Vegan Chocolate Mousse (5 ingredients!)

This easy vegan chocolate mousse is SO velvety and SO decadent tasting that you will never believe it’s made with tofu! It’s totally dairy free, with the perfect light yet creamy texture. Best of all, it comes together in less than 15 minutes of hands on time.

For a girl who claims she’s not super into chocolate, I have a habit of dreaming up healthy-ish chocolate desserts, like my mini turtles candies…and this too good to be true vegan chocolate mousse. Upon deep self-reflection (ha!), I think a big part of this is that I like my desserts not too sweet. 

You might think it’s the dietitian talking here, but actually, I’m just sour candy obsessed and not super into overtly sweet foods. Which is why most of my desserts, like my pecan snowballs, or even the millionaire shortbread-inspired bars in Good For Your Gut, use a less sugar than typical recipes.

Gimme me the full spectrum of flavour!! I like my fruit fresh and bright. My caramel salted. And my chocolate? It’s the deep, complex flavour of dark chocolate that makes this “I cannot believe it’s vegan” chocolate mousse so addictively good. I’ve added an easy cherry compote if you want a topping…because chocolate and cherries is one of my favourite combinations (hello, chocolate cherry cheesecake!).

Have you heard the one about chocolate being “good for you”? It’s because cacao, the plant we make chocolate from, is very high in polyphenols, plant-based phytochemicals that are strongly anti-inflammatory and even microbiome-boosting. Processing can diminish these delicate compounds, but dark chocolate tends to have more of them than milk chocolate.

Despite tasting incredibly luxurious, this simple vegan dessert comes together in less than 15 minutes, with just 5 ingredients! Delicious on its own, with a fruit topping, it is the perfect dessert to serve for company. It serves 4 to 6 people, depending on how large a serving you want (it’s rich!). You can easily make it a day or two in advance, store it in little mason jars in the fridge so all you have to do is take the lid off and serve! 

Grab your ingredients to whip up this vegan chocolate mousse

The foundation of this recipe is really just 2 ingredients: silken tofu and dark chocolate. You can make a pretty delicious chocolate mousse from just those two things…but I find that it’s even better with the addition of just a few pantry items.

• Silken tofu: the essential ingredient of this recipe, a high water, silky smooth tofu often sold in tubes
• Dark chocolate: you can use either chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bars. I recommend using at least 70% cacao chocolate for the best flavour…and make sure you love the taste of the chocolate as it is what your mousse will taste like!
• Almond butter: adds some richness and body to the chocolate mousse in place of cream. Nut free? Just swap in sunflower seed butter.
• Vanilla: because vanilla makes chocolate taste like “chocolate” (yes, really!)
• Maple syrup: maple syrup lightens the texture and adds a richer flavour but you can substitute sugar in a pinch (the mousse will have a slightly different texture)

Silken tofu vs soft tofu

Silken tofu and soft tofu are actually not the same! Silken tofu is prepared without curdling the soy milk, making the texture extra silky and smooth.

Soft tofu is prepared by first curdling the soy milk (just like how dairy cheese is made!) and then only pressing it into a block gently, meaning it has a higher water content.

In some applications, you can substitute soft tofu for soft silken tofu but in this recipe, it will not yield the same light + silky smooth texture.

How to make the best vegan chocolate mousse

As someone who doesn’t like to fuss too much in the kitchen, I have to tell you that it is SO much easier to make a vegan chocolate mousse than the original! No aquafaba or cream to whip (or overwhip); just melt the chocolate and throw everything in the blender or food processor. Which means you really can’t mess this one up. 

Step one: drain the silken tofu. Got the one in a tube? Open it into a fine mesh sieve for the little bit of extra water in the tube to run out.

Blend the mousse base: place the tofu, almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla and salt into a high speed blender and blend on high for a minute. Set aside.

Melt the chocolate: place a small pot on the stove with about an inch of water. Heat over medium heat and carefully place a small heatproof bowl to fit over the pot. Add the chocolate, stirring occasionally until fully melted. If it starts steaming, turn down to low heat.

Blend and pour: scrape the melted chocolate into the mousse base, blend again on medium high for about 30-45 seconds, then pour into 4 or 6 jars.

Chill and serve: fasten the lids onto the jars and pop the mousse into the fridge for 4 hours…up to 3 days! Then to serve, just take off the lids, add a sprinkle of cocoa, sliced fruit or some fruit compote and enjoy.

Tips, Tricks + Substitutions

• I do not recommend substituting regular soft tofu for silken tofu. You will find silken tofu in tubes in the tofu section, or in shelf-stable boxes (like Mori-Nu in the US). If both soft and firm silken tofu is available, choose soft.
• If you have milk-style chocolate on hand, omit the maple syrup at first and taste the blended mousse to make sure it’s not too sweet for you. You can easily add more maple and quickly reblend.
• Because the silken tofu is so critical to the texture of this dessert, unfortunately you can not adjust this recipe to make it soy free or low FODMAP. For my FODMAPers, silken tofu is high in GOS, so if they aren’t a problem for you, go for it!
• Nut free? Sunflower seed butter is a good swap for almond butter.
• Peanut butter is also delicious in this recipe but it tends to chill up much firmer.
• It’s so easy to switch up the flavour with these simple variations: Like mint? Add ½ tsp (2 mL) of mint extract to the blender. What about amaretto? Add ¼ teaspoon (1 mL) of almond extract to the blender. Fancy a mocha? Add 1 tablespoon (15 mL) instant espresso to the blender.

Even more easy vegan chocolate desserts

• Chocolate Cherry Cashew Cheesecake (vegan)
• Nourishing Vegan Hot Chocolate
• Fudgy Vegan Peppermint Brownies Made with Black Beans
• Tart Cherry, Hemp and Cashew Cacao Bark
• Easy Mini Vegan Turtles Recipe (30 min!)